He could've Sworn at the situation! There was nothing more comfortable than his usual baggy jeans and ganji. Also to add to His comfort,(and save himself from the oggling eyes of Somnaths ladies) his open over shirt.
        But.... Even god couldn't save him today, from wearing the Designer Sherwani his Maa had selected. He vaguely wondered if women were gifted with the ability to do Emotionally atyachar on poor souls like him. Yup! That's exactly the weapon she'd used on him.

       Gareeb? Vo bhi tera soul....he chuckled internally. Vo toh us phool-kumar ka hoga.

       Somehow his mind traveled back to something it had been trying to process. He couldn't process how that Chipkali had agreed for this alliance. She'd looked as solemn as period-drama actress, no expression, no emotion, no overreaction.... Had some Real Chudail actually taken over her body and mind??.....

         The constant prickly feeling of the snug fitting kurta brought him out of his musings. Thanks to the fact that there was a early delivery of stock at the shop(and no availability of labourers/workers) He had to be the one doing half the unloading. All of this had led into him arriving at the wedding venue just when Raavi entered (after the Dulha's baarat).

        The wedding venue was a gorgeous circular hall,(one of a kind, just on the outskirts of Somnath). A huge chandelier adorned the dome ceiling. The Rose Gold and White walls making the relatively small hall look like,.... like ....
Like something right out of Raavi's childhood books of Princesses and Prince and Fairies.

        Probably the girl had manifested this all, that was the only reason for such a place to exist. Two large Grand Staircases on either side of the entrance led to the upper floor where guestrooms and green rooms had been set. Although no guests had stayed over, both families had taken a room each.

            Seeing that Dev's baarat had already entered, and that Raavi would soon join him on stage, Shiva had rushed and run up all those beautiful, decorated and equally useless steps cursing! Why was this corridor/varanda soo big btw?

        Taking a last quick look at himself in the mirror he felt like  renewkng a promise that he'd made himself Long Back .....
No matter how good he looked in a Sherwani,
No matter how stunning the venue,
And no matter how beautiful the girl,
He - Shiva Pandya would rather Die than Ever Get Married

      As he walked down those ten-thousand steps, his mind went uneasy again. He knew that Raavi had sworn something on those same lines to herself. Then....why had Somnath given her the brainwave to agree to this marriage....

~~

          She loved high heels👠, and she begged the god's to allow her to wear her favourite pair🥺..... atleast To the Mandap. 😣🙏🏻 But Maasi had warned her against it.

          The confidence that she'd been building inside her, now seemed to have Vanished, just like her Nailpaint remover when left open.

        She had made up her mind to get married, and she knew....
What was it that she knew again??!!
Come on Raavi! Now is not the time to become Jon Snow, or worst yet Gajhni. So.... She knew that she could Love Anyone, if she put her mind to it.💖 And she'd known this guy since they were kids, actually they were quite good friends aswell🤷🏻‍♀️.

     But, somehow she didn't want to get married.... AND Yet she couldn't voice her thoughts, Yet she couldn't bring herself to tell anyone that she wanted to run away. Society and Peer pressure is all a Fucked up thing!
And all the Drama, that this marriage had brought with itself (internal heavy sigh) . From the minute this topic had been approached to her, to this moment, all her decisions were based on it all. If she walked away from this marriage, (or if she'd denied marrying Dev) she knew she'd loose her family. Families. Mausa-pa and Kaaki had fixed this as a symbol that they had let their past differences be.

And had dragged her into something that should have never concerned her.

      Probably some bhootni must've taken over her body, when she agreed to this Marriage. Her Marriage!

Why bhagwan-ji? why? Why did you let Maasi guilt me into agreeing to this Shaadi. And to Dev..... Uhhhh!!!

         Okay, the guy was decent looking, and kind and family loving aswell... and yeah, he had his Master's Degree, meaning he wasn't someone with restricted or orthodox thinking. So Dev was all goody-good ... But all these khoobiya's and guun's aka features were just not making her Mug of Coffee!
And all these things, and thoughts still couldn't make her Want to Want this.....

         Fixing her Chunar , she stepped out of her room. Her thoughts jumbled like a Ruined Khichidi. She knew, she'd wanted to become a part of a family as big and as sweet as the Pandya Family. She knew, she loved each and every member of Pandya Niwas in different light. And She knew.....she knew, she would have Never married Anyone Ever, had she been given the opportunity to choose.

        She stood by the entrance, Dev's baarat had entered, and Panditji was about to announce for the Bride to be called it. Shubh moohurat, that's what they were waiting for.
Looking at all the gathered people, in the most picturesque wedding hall of Somnath, Raavi reminded herself of what she'd promised to herself the day of her engagement. She was all grownup and mature in her head and thinking, but Morals and Values is what made a person, and she would not let anything make a taint on hers.

She will be the perfect, loving wife to Dev
She'll not give any reason for anyone in PN to feel ashamed of her(not that there was anything of that sort)
She will proudly call herself the daughter of her Maus-pa and Maasi-ma and let nothing wrong be blamed on them or their upbringing.

Her insecurities were hers, her internal conflicts were hers,.....
and her rapidly thudding heart was No Sign of something bad about to happen- it was just pre-wedding anxiety , it was just Wedding jitters!

       Just as she stepped inside, a strong scent evaded her mind. She could easily guess......he must've been lifting boori with Cinnamon and Clove packets. Those two mixed with the earthy smell that was a constan in Pandya Store, something that anyone who spent more than a hour there would start carrying. (if they hadn't been wearing a deo or perfume previously). That scent.... It shook her inner self, it enveloped her heart in even huge self double.
But it was Late, probably too late. Because no matter what she had sworn to herself about Never Getting Married, she'd agreed to this marriage. And no amount of self-doubt could give her the courage to live like her sister. She could never handle, even the secondhand embarrassment that came wth a broken marriage.

So she took small steps in her fancy flats,
her 7 kilo ka lehenga, a unwanted swag.
The maang-tika giving her a minor migraine,
Her heavy chunri, getting stuck with her zumkas once again.

Her delicate hands, balled into a fist
Her back straight, and eyes covered with mist
She took tiny steps, in her fancy flats...
Looking forward to next chapter as his wife

~~

Shiva and Raavi :
I just wanted to show how both are having different thoughts..... And both are caught up in their own world's, yet making a point to peep into others.....

Nope I'll Never Let Dev marry Raavi 🤣🤣🤣🔪

ALSO,

I'm soooo sorry 🥺
This was supposed to be a 3000-4000 word, complete chapter and not just the beginning of it🤦🏻‍♀️. But today was just not that day, the makers ruined more than Half of it with that GodAweful 🤮🤮🤮 and I'm still recovering 🤧😭😭😭

But I'll pakka write this , cuz it's like one of my first baby drafts😍😍

A HUGE Thank you to everyone who voted for this 😍😍🥰🥰I love you'll soo much🥺💖 and it did mean a lot to me , so thanks again ..... And I'll update soon(fingers crossed)

Ps. Have u ever thought of running away from your (future) wedding 🤭
I have,(for no reason ,bit only drama💃🏻💃🏻)
And have u thought that Wedding Lehengas are Overrated (no offense plz) and that's the first thing you'll want to be out of if your wedding_ broke🤷🏻‍♀️

Love y'all 💖 byee🥰💃🏻